Thomas Basnett (1808–1886) was a British-born astronomer and meteorologist. He built

Marabanong Marabanong is a historic mansion in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. It was built in 1876 on the site of Perley Place, the antebellum mansion purchased in 1870 by British astronomer Thomas Basnett that was originally built by Thomas Perley ...

in the

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

area and married Eliza Wilbur in his third marriage. Basnett moved from England to Illinois in 1835 and ran a drugstore. Circa 1876 he constructed Marabonong on a

promontory A promontory is a raised mass of land that projects into a lowland or a body of water (in which case it is a peninsula). Most promontories either are formed from a hard ridge of rock that has resisted the erosive forces that have removed the s ...

above the

St. Johns River The St. Johns River () is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and is the most significant one for commercial and recreational use. At long, it flows north and winds through or borders 12 counties. The drop in elevation from River s ...

near

Empire Point mansion has long history of strong Trout women
by Leni Bessette and Louise Stanton Warren October 8, 2005 Florida Times-Union

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Basnett, Thomas 19th-century British astronomers British meteorologists British emigrants to the United States 1886 deaths 1808 births